As the Supreme Court of the United States this week announced the last of its decisions for the current term, two of the decisions were considered victories for religious liberty.
In 7-2 decisions, the court ruled that Catholic schools have the right – free from government interference – to choose teachers who will teach and model the Catholic faith and that the Little Sisters of the Poor cannot be forced to comply with the Affordable Care Act mandate that abortion-inducing drugs and contraception must be provided in all health care plans.
The back-to-back decisions were announced on July 8.
In the hiring case, Our Lady of Guadalupe School v Morrissey-Berru, the court ruled in 2012 that religious schools have a ministerial exception protecting them from lawsuits filed by teachers that the school said were ministers. Teachers at two Catholic schools said they were fired for discriminatory reasons – age and disability. The court found those charges were without merit.
"The religious education and formation of students is the very reason for the existence of most private religious schools," wrote Justice Samuel Alito for the majority, "and therefore the selection and supervision of the teachers upon whom the schools rely to do this work lie at the core of their mission."
In the Little Sisters’ case, the Catholic nonprofit entity and the Trump administration appealed to the court seeking a reversal of an appeals court decision that denied an exemption and required the agency to provide contraceptives to employees. The Trump administration sided with the Little Sisters and argued that there should be an exception for those with sincerely held moral or religious obligations from complying with the Obamacare mandate on contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.
The Trump administration "had the authority to provide exemptions from the regulatory contraceptive requirements for employees with religious and conscientious objections,” wrote Justice Clarence Thomas, author of the majority decision.
Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty, and Bishop Michael C. Barber, S.J. of Oakland, chairman of the Committee on Catholic Education, issued a statement addressing the SCOTUS decision on hiring.
“Education is a central aspect of the Church’s mission. Indeed, teaching is one of the spiritual works of mercy. Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. James schools continue the Catholic tradition of offering Christian education. As institutions carrying out a ministry of the Church, Catholic schools have a right, recognized by the Constitution, to select people who will perform ministry. The government has no authority to second-guess those ministerial decisions. We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision, which rightly acknowledged this limit on state authority. This decision means that the Church can continue to serve her neighbors with integrity,” they wrote.
Archbishop Wenski and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, also issued the following statement addressing the Little Sisters’ case:
“This is a saga that did not need to occur. Contraception is not health care, and the government should never have mandated that employers provide it in the first place. Yet even after it had, there were multiple opportunities for government officials to do the right thing and exempt conscientious objectors. Time after time, administrators and attorneys refused to respect the rights of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the Catholic faith they exemplify, to operate in accordance with the truth about sex and the human person. Even after the federal government expanded religious exemptions to the HHS contraceptive mandate, Pennsylvania and other states chose to continue this attack on conscience.
“The Little Sisters of the Poor is an international congregation that is committed to building a culture of life. They care for the elderly poor. They uphold human dignity. They follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Church. The government has no right to force a religious order to cooperate with evil. We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision. We hope it brings a close to this episode of government discrimination against people of faith. Yet, considering the efforts we have seen to force compliance with this mandate, we must continue to be vigilant for religious freedom,” the archbishops said.
The USCCB filed amicus curiae briefs supporting these religious institutions. The briefs can be found here:
- usccb.org/about/general-counsel/amicus-briefs/upload/19-431-and-19-454_Amici-Brief.pdf
- usccb.org/about/general-counsel/amicus-briefs/upload/2019-11-04-LSP-SPPH-v-COP-SONJ.pdf
Click here to read the Supreme Court decision on school hiring and here to read the decision on the Little Sisters’ health care case.
This Supreme Court term was historical because a dozen of the 74 cases the court agreed to hear were postponed in March and April because of the coronavirus pandemic. The justices later agreed to hear oral arguments by phone for the postponed cases.
The hiring case had been set for oral arguments on April 1, but was delayed until May 11, when telephonic arguments were heard.
The Little Sisters’ case had been scheduled for oral arguments on April 29, but was delayed until May 6.